Flaming chalice basic lesson

Frederick

Based on the story by Leo Lionni

Adapted by Nicole Sykes
Materials

• 
  rectangular underlay
  
• 
  green felt strip (grass) for bottom of underlay
  
• 
  grey felt mountain/hill (for stone wall)
  
• 
  white felt strips (snow)
  
• 
  white felt ‘talk’ bubbles with colored pieces
  
• 
  felt sun
  
• 
  4 felt mice (3 identical, and one with eyes half-closed [Frederick])
  
• 
  pieces of wheat/hay, dried corn, stones
  

Presentation
Words for you to say are in italics; actions are in plain type.
Smooth out the underlay, and then pull out the green fabric strip and place it along the bottom of the underlay.
I wonder what this could be. It’s so green and lush.
Place the grey felt on the green felt in the right corner. Touch the green as you begin to speak.
All along the meadow where the cows grazed and the horses ran, there was an old stone wall.
Begin placing the rocks on the grey felt.
And in that wall, not far from the barn, lived a chatty family of field mice.
Place the four mice on the stones.
But the farmers had moved away, the barn was abandoned, and winter was not far off. So the little mice began gathering corn and nuts and wheat. They worked all day and all night. All – except for Frederick.
Point at Frederick. Add sun to sky. Have mice picking up a kernel of corn and taking it to the stone wall. Frederick just sits.
One day, as they were gathering corn, the mice wondered,
‘Frederick, why don’t you work?’
‘I do work,’ said Frederick.
‘I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days.’
Have mice picking up nuts and taking it back to the stone wall. Frederick still just sits.
‘And now, Frederick?’
‘I gather colors,’ answered Frederick simply. ‘For winter is grey.’
Have mice picking up pieces of wheat and taking it back to the stone wall. Frederick remains in his place.
One time, Frederick seemed half asleep!
‘Are you dreaming, Frederick?’ they asked reproachfully.
Frederick replied, ‘Oh no. I am gathering words. For winter days are long and many, and we’ll run out of things to say.’
Add white strips on top of the green meadow. Take sun out of the sky.
The winter days came, and when the first snow fell the four little field mice took to their hideout in the stones.
Move mice to stones.
In the beginning, there was lots to eat, and the mice told stories of foolish foxes and silly cats. They were a happy family.
Begin removing the food until there is nothing left.
But little by little they had nibbled up all of the corn, the nuts, and the wheat. It was cold in the wall and no one felt like chatting.
Pause.
Then they remembered what Frederick had said about sun rays and colors and words.
‘What about your supplies, Frederick?’ they asked.
Have Frederick climb up onto the highest stone, like a podium.
“Close your eyes,’ said Frederick. ‘Now I send you the rays of the sun. Do you feel how their golden glow warms your back?’
And as Frederick spoke of the sun, the mice felt a little warmer. Was is Frederick’s voice? Was it magic?
‘And how about the colors Frederick?’ the mice asked anxiously.
‘Close your eyes again,’ said Frederick.
And he told them of the blue periwinkles, and the red poppies, and the yellow wheat, and the green leaves of the berry bush, and they saw the colors as clearly as if they had been painted in their minds.
Place colored thought bubbles above each mouse.
‘And the words, Frederick?’
Frederick cleared his throat, and waited a moment, and then, as if from a stage, he said:
Place poem in thought bubble near Frederick to help you recite unless you have it memorized!
‘Who scatters the snowflakes?
Who melts the ice?
Who spoils the weather?
Who makes it nice?
Who grows the four leaf clovers in June?
Who dims the daylight?
Who lights the moon?
Four little field mice in the sky.
Four little field mice like you and I.
One is the Spring mouse, who turns on the showers.
Then comes the Summer who paints in the flowers.
The Fall mouse is next with walnuts and wheat.
And Winter is last….with little cold feet.
Aren’t we lucky the seasons are four?
Think of a year with one less….or one more!’
When Frederick was finished, they all applauded.
‘But Frederick,’ they said, ‘You are a poet!’
Frederick blushed, took a bow, and said shyly, ‘I know it.’
Ask some of these Wondering Questions (as time and interest allow):
I wonder if you have ever seen or heard any of this before?
I wonder which part of this story is the most important?
I wonder which part you like the best?
I wonder where you might be in this story?
I wonder…how the other mice were feeling while they were working and Frederick sat there watching.
I wonder…what would have happened if all the mice were like Frederick?
I wonder…what would have happened if Frederick was just like the other mice?
I wonder…if you were a mouse in the stone wall, what would you be collecting to prepare for the winter?
I wonder if this story reminds you of any of our other Unitarian Universalist Promises?
I wonder where the Spirit of Love and Mystery might be in this story?
Choices
Say something like:
In this classroom you are able to choose what you would like to do with your time here after the story and before class is over.
Today’s choices are:

• 
  Storytelling______Treasure_Hunt'>Retelling the story to yourself
  

• 
  Storytelling
  

• 
  Treasure Hunt
  

• 
  Paper Collages
  

Or other activities you have chosen as the teacher. It is up to you whether to give totally free choice to each child individually (this will work best when you have enough adults to assist any child who needs help with a chosen activity without too much waiting) or whether to help the class as a whole decide on one or two activities to do together.

Whichever you decide, be sure to let the children know clearly what choices they have (and do not have).
Activity Directions
Retelling the story independently:
Coach children to take turns, and to treat the materials with respect so that they will be available for other children and teachers to use in the future. For older/reading children, provide a copy of the script (above). For younger/non-reading children, provide a photo of the finished storyboard.
Storytelling
There are several commercially available storytelling games, designed to provide prompts for children who start telling a story, which is then added to by another child, etc. If one of these is available to you, by all means, use it. Some use words, others pictures, which may work better with younger children.
If you don’t have such a game set available, use one of the following options:
Invite each child to tell the story of a really happy memory, going around the circle.
Take a piece of paper and write the first line of a story at the top. Fold the paper over so that the next person cannot see what you wrote. S/he has to add another sentence. Proceed around the group (or even just pass it back and forth between two people) until the whole paper is folded. Unfold and read the nonsense story that results.
For non-readers, do a similar thing verbally by inviting one child to start telling a story and then cutting him or her off in mid-sentence (for example, Once up on a time there was a frog who |||). The next person in the group then finishes the sentence, is also cut off, and so forth.
Treasure Hunt
Two options: set up a treasure hunt with clues leading to a) a stash of small candles, flashlights, or paper cut-out suns to represent Frederick’s stored ‘sunshine’; b) a stash of enough brightly colored flat glass marbles for each child to have several to keep; and c) a stash of beautiful lines from poems printed on strips of paper, or alternatively, enough magnetic ‘fridge poetry’ words for each child to have several.
Or, go outside and search for an object of beauty for each child to take home.
Paper Collages
This activity may make more sense if the children are already familiar with the picture book version of this story, or if you can show it to them at least briefly. It is suggested as a way to create a beautiful image, and because the illustrations in the original book are paper collages.
Have available large sheets of black construction paper for each child, scraps of many colors of paper, and glue sticks.
Encourage each child to make a beautiful collage out of the available scraps on the black background, either abstract or representative (showing something s/he has seen or imagined.)

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